Veronica Mars (2014)

Veronica Mars Synopsis

On the eve of graduating law school, Veronica Mars has put Neptune and her amateur sleuthing days behind her. While interviewing at high-end New York law firms, Veronica Mars gets a call from her ex-boyfriend Logan who has been accused of murder. Veronica heads back to Neptune just to help Logan find an attorney, but when things don't seem right with how Logan's case is perceived and handled, Veronica finds herself being pulled back into a life she thought she had left behind.

The result is a film that picks up in the present, just under a decade since the heroine left the sleazy town of Neptune, California to make her way out into the world. The new Veronica Mars is as tough as her teenaged counterpart, but she’s also smarter and edgier, as evidenced by the movie’s earliest scenes.

The Kickstarter-funded film awkwardly marched into only 291 theaters – all AMC-owned venues, mind you – at the same time it was released on VOD this past weekend, but it still managed to rake in right around $2 million, making it the tenth highest-earning film of the week.

Last weekend animated feature Mr. Peabody & Sherman took a distant second place to 300: Rise of An Empire, but fortunes were switched this week. Rise fell almost 60%, banking just $19 million for second place while Mr. Peabody & Sherman slipped only 35%, earning $21 million and narrowly edging into the top spot.

Veronica Mars arrives in theaters, and if you haven't watched the series, you may be wondering if you'll be able to follow the movie at all. Having seen the film, I feel confident in saying that it shouldn't be a problem, as the movie is structured to reintroduce us all to Kristen Bell's persnickety once-teen detective and her Southern California hometown of Neptune.

A year after fans came through (and then some) to make the Veronica Mars movie a reality, the film is finally ready for its audience. Last week, we had the opportunity to talk to director/series creator Rob Thomas and stars Kristen Bell (Veronica Mars), Jason Dohring (Logan), Chris Lowell (Piz), Krysten Ritter (Gia) and Ryan Hansen (Dick) about the film.

Marshmallows! You don’t need me to tell you that Veronica Mars held its World Premiere at the South By Southwest film festival in Austin. And the movie reunion of the beloved (but defunct) television cast played like gangbusters.

There's nothing quite like the sight of Veronica Mars looking as though she just figured something out. That may be what's going on in one of the recently released stills from the anticipated film, as you can almost hear the sound of the wheels in Ms. Mars' head turning as her eyes stare at the computer screen, while she sits at what might be her father's desk.

A long time ago -- or about six years ago, anyway -- Veronica Mars got cancelled. Well, you can cancel a CW show but you can't cancel Veronica Mars, not as long as the fans love her. And we do. The final line of the above clip brings it home, offering a nod to the pilot in an opening scene that's one big nod to the first season...

The Veronica Mars movie has been an oddball since it was initially conceived. First, there's the fact that it's a film based on a cancelled-too-soon television series, which come around maybe once every decade or so. And secondly, the feature actually got its budget by turning to fans on Kickstarter and raising the money through crowd-sourcing.

The first line of the Veronica Mars theme song, "We Used to Be Friends" by The Dandy Warhols, speaks of a broken friendship that has dissolved into memory, but what’s strange is that the relationship between the show and its fans couldn’t be more opposite.

Is it me or does Kristen Bell's smile border on sarcastic on the cover of Entertainment Weekly's latest issue? And I mean sarcastic in a good way. Sarcastic in a persnickety teen-detective that's not technically a teen or a detective anymore kind of way.

Since I’ll be on the ground in Texas covering the daily happenings in Austin, I wanted to dig through the immense line-up with both hands and highlight the 10 movies screening at South By this year that you should care about.

For years and years it seemed like an impossible dream, but now the time is almost here: the Veronica Mars movie will soon be coming to a theater near you. The project has had one hell of a back story, the film setting Kickstarter records early last year and successfully raising $5.7 million from fans, and now it's on track to come out in March.

While the recently revealed trailer for the anticipated Veronica Mars movie seemed to emphasize character drama a bit more than it did crime and mystery, the poster for the film, which just arrived today, does offer a hint of noir, along with the familiar sight of Kristen Bell behind her trusted camera (and giant telephoto lens).

South By Southwest -- the annual film, music and interactive festival that takes over downtown Austin, Texas – began teasing its wares for the 2014 event, announcing its Opening Night selection and a few key features that will dot its schedule.

Veronica Mars may not be the eager-to-please brunette that Dick ordered, but she’s the persnickety blonde detective fans adored for three seasons and we’re happy to have her back. Among the most anticipated movies of 2014 is Veronica Mars, the feature followup to the beloved and unfortunately short-lived UPN/CW series.

There should be a little something for everyone in the coming year. And to help you plan out your movie-watching year, we singled out 14 titles we’re looking forward to in 2014, as well as a list of additional can’t-miss movies.

One of the numerous benefits of Veronica Mars getting a feature film follow-up is that it’ll not only allow Veronica to once again face off with her nemesis Madison Sinclair, but because the film isn’t bound by the FCC guidelines that dictate content for network television, Veronica can say things like, “Let me try looking like I think you’re an asshole."

Since the successful Kickstarter campaign for the Veronica Mars movie wrapped up, we’ve known that the film would arrive sometime in 2014, but up until today, we didn’t know the exact date. Ahoy Pirates and Marshmallows alike, set your calendars for March 14, 2014, as that’s when Veronica Mars will be arriving in theaters.

Dick and Veronica forever! (DiVe?) Ok, probably not, but let’s all applaud the final moments of the above featurette for entertaining the thought. Alas, Veronica Mars isn’t an eager-to-please brunette. But she is a super-smart private eye, and exactly the kind of person you’d want to go to if you were wanted for murder, which appears to be the case for Logan Echolls. And that brings us to one of the actual points of the unresolved Veronica Marslove LoVe triangle.

Given that a lot of us helped pay for the upcoming Veronica Mars movie, it only makes sense that we get a look at what's in store even while the movie is shooting. And while the attendees at the movie's Comic-Con panel yesterday actually got face time with the cast, the five-minute preview for the film that showed in Hall H is now available for the rest of us to see above.

Veronica Mars is getting a movie! That's not news, I know. But it's still exciting, and today in Hall H at Comic-Con, the cast and director (series creator) Rob Thomas will convene to answer questions and show us some exclusive footage. We also expect to hear details about the production, which is already underway, following the successful Kickstarter campaign that gave the cancelled series new life.

Veronica Mars creator has been doing an impressive job re-wrangling the show's far-flung cast six years after its cancellation for its long hoped for movie. Unfortunately, Leighton Meester, who played classmate Carrie Bishop in a pair of episodes, won't be back for the Veronica Mars movie, though her character will be.

Franco and a small list of other celebrities will feature into the film as victims of hidden camera scams. In the movie, celebrity houses are being broken into and cameras are set up to record private moments - with the tapes then being sold online.

All of the skeptics were wrong: the Veronica Mars movie is actually happening. Following the series' cancellation after its third season, creator Rob Thomas and star Kristen Bell kept hope alive by staying positive about the idea of a film based on the private eye show, but for years Warner Bros. had absolutely no interest in it. But then the Kickstarter happened. Thomas took to the crowdfunding website and asked fans to contribute to the making of a dream.

As you may have surmised by the latest video, though it's a lot more subtle than Marino's Party Down co-star Ryan Hansen's announcement video, Ken Marino is on board for the Veronica Mars movie! This is cause to celebrate for those of us who had Vinnie Van Lowe high on our list of characters we wanted to see reprised in the Kickstarted Veronica Mars movie.

Well, Ryan Hansen sure does know how to make an announcement. Since he appeared in the original video for the Veronica Mars movie Kickstarter campaign, we sort of figured there was a good chance Hansen would be on board to appear in the film, reprising his role as the lovably douchey Dick Casablancas, however his casting had not yet officially been announced.

Before she was the titular "B" in Apartment 23 and Jesse Pinkman's girlfriend Jane in Breaking Bad, Krysten Ritter played the recurring role of Gia Goodman in the second season of Veronica Mars. A little bit flaky and a lot adorable, Ritter's Gia brought style and some much needed perkiness to Season 2, in addition to being an in for Veronica to snoop around Steve Guttenberg's Woody Goodman when the need arose.

Three more actors have officially signed on for the Veronica Mars movie. And those who've seen the original series should be familiar enough with their characters. The first is Brandon Hillock, who played Deputy Sacks. Next up is Kevin Sheridan, who played Sean Friedrich, and the last is Jonathan Chesner, who was known affectionately by his fellow Neptune High students as Corny.

Majorino's character Mac was Veronica's closest female friend in the original series. She's offers the perfect blend of dry wit and tech-savviness to be of service to Veronica on both a professional and personal level. As has been the case with pretty much all the casting news that's come down the pipeline for this film so far, there's no word on what Mac will be up to when the film picks up, but it's comforting to know she'll be making an appearance in the film.

These days, Sam Huntington can be found on the Syfy channel, battling his growly inner urges as a werewolf on the U.S. remake of Being Human, but once upon a time, about five minutes (give or take a year or two) before he played Jimmy Olsen in Superman Returns, he appeared in Veronica Mars. He reunited with Kristen Bell years later for Fanboys and it looks like he'll be reuniting with her again on the big screen...

The last couple of days have brought a flurry of news on the Veronica Mars movie-front, some random and some less random but no less fantastic. As the video above indicates, Percy Daggs III has signed on to reprise his role as Wallace Fennel, Veronica's best friend and occasional accomplice from Neptune High. Their friendship carried over into college in Season 3.

Who's your daddy! It's impossible to envision Veronica Mars without Enrico Colantoni and his character Keith Mars. Unlike some teen dramas, which feature parents as little more than background props or devices used to set some general boundaries for the teen characters' lives, Keith Mars was a major influence in Veronica's life and their relationship was a piece of the heart of the story.

Said Thomas after the record was broken, "We did it! We did it! This is amazing! You all are amazing! My phone is vibrating non-stop. This is so much fun!" The showrunner then joked to fans that he may stop the Kickstarter when it reaches 90909 backers (a reference to the fictional zip code that the rich kid characters of the show reside in).

Among the recent updates to the Veronica Mars movie Kickstarter page is the announcement that the project managed to cross the $5 million mark. With just one day left to go in the Kickstarter campaign, the film is very close to breaking the record for most supporters on a single Kickstarter project. Those fans who want to be a part of that, and have their name on the movie's official website as well need only to pledge $1.

With just three days left in its campaign, the Veronica Mars movie has more-than doubled its pledge goal and is less than 11,500 backers shy of breaking the all-time record for most supporters on a single Kickstarter project. There's a $1 pledge option, Marshmallows!

Those Veronica Mars fans who pledged $25 or more to the film's Kickstarter campaign will be treated to a limited edition t-shirt. As much as we're all anticipating the actual film, there's nothing quite like a great t-shirt. Backers will get their pick of two great t-shirts, in appreciation of their financial support of the movie, and today Rob Thomas has given us a look at the designs.

In his update for the backers he explained why the $4.5 million-- more than twice the original $2 million goal-- is still not exactly a ton for a movie, and how every little extra will help them make something that's closer to the dream Veronica Mars movie fans have been anticipating. Here's how he laid it out

Attention LoVe fans. (LoVers?) Jason Dohring is officially on board for the Veronica Mars movie. It seems likely that fans were expecting that, but this information was only just confirmed today, ensuring the high possibility that there will be broody stares and lots of tension if and when Logan and Veronica cross one another's paths, which is bound to happen at some point in this movie.

Rob Thomas is already making good on his promise to keep the momentum going as the Veronica Mars movie Kickstarter campaign continues well past its $2 million goal. The above video gives us a behind-the-scenes look at what March 13 was like for series creator Rob Thomas and some of the cast of the show as Thomas nervously launched the Kickstarter page and then celebrated the first pledge, and many more to follow.

When Veronica Mars creator Rob Thomas set up a Kickstarter page in the hopes of funding a follow-up film for the UPN/CW series last week, he set the goal for two million dollars, in the hopes of hitting that number or surpassing it within the 30-day time frame. With the film set to move forward, we're left to speculate over the plot. While the film will center on a mystery, what's become clear already is that the movie itself won't be shrouded in secrecy.

"We were built by fans so we’ll try to do our best to keep the momentum going through that," Thomas says. "We’re hoping to go to Comic-Con, maybe have some footage to show at Comic-Con. We have a documentary following the making of the movie." Hopefully with lots of Kristen Bell and Percy Daggs III blowing people minds by still being adorable together over 30.

The fans are still coming through with their financial contributions, which will go toward production costs. With the Kickstarter already passing the targeted $2 million, Warner Bros. Digital Distribution should be taking care of the marketing, promotion and distribution of the planned film, which will hopefully arrive early next year.

Following the speedy success of the Veronica Mars movie Kickstarter campaign, fans of other series are naturally hopeful that this potentially groundbreaking movement to get a film made could open up opportunities for other projects. Perhaps a Freaks and Geeks movie, or maybe that Friday Night Lights film people still want would have better chances with a similar campaign.

It didn't take thirty days for Veronica Mars fans to pledge $2 million. It took less than a day. Earlier today, Veronica Mars creator Rob Thomas and series star Kristen Bell enlisted the help of fans to raise $2 million to put toward the budget of a movie that would follow up on the characters featured in the UPN/CW series, setting the campaign for 30 days, in the hopes that this would be enough time to generate the fan interest and support.